not all of the spending cuts and tax increases will happen on january 1st but the law changes. so technically speaking, republicans would be voting for a tax cut rather than a tax increase. and this is something that democrats have been holding on to saying that, well, you know, after january 1st, it's going to be politically easier for republicans to not be on the books saying they voted for a tax hike. this is why you saw such a big opposition to boehner's plan b. the plan that he brought -- the bill he brought forward that would raise taxes on income above $1 million because they said, no." why would we vote for this when we think the threshold can even go more down. why would we want to do that? this is one argument for why things do change politically even if they don't change substantively after january 1st. >> on that point and i'll bring quelly back in. the sequence -- the sequence really seems to matter to republicans, particularly in the house, whether it happens this week and it's a tax hike the next week and it's a tax cut. one of the questions is if there is a deal